There are some cars out there that seemed like a good idea at the time but ended up failing. There are other cars that seem crazy on paper and were even worse in metal, but got built anyway. Today we’re talking about 10 of history’s automotive moon shots that failed to take hold. From odd propulsion choices to super cars that didn’t deliver, overpriced economy badges to hypercars made obsolete by their maker, we cover it all.
10 Times Car Companies SENT it and Missed
16 year-old steals a dozen Camaros to sell at takeovers
Matt gets a physical
And more!
Recorded March 6, 2024
Chapters
00:00 Matt’s physical
14:00 Drive to Survive
18:51 Teen steals Camaros and sells them
26:31 Moonshot misses
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Guys, you totally got the Chrysler Turbine car wrong. It is a myth that the exhaust would melt pavement. The turbine engine was developed with heat exchangers. The exhaust was actually not as hot as a ICE vehicle. Chrysler built 47 cars and rotated them through a lottery system to the public in a 3 month period over 3 years to determine the viability of a Turbine car. It was also an awesome marketing campaign. The reason Chrysler did not go through with putting the Chrysler Turbine into production is because it was very expensive. The Turbine (unlike a gas powered vehicle) had very close tolerances which made it impossible to mass produce the engine. It also had to use very exotic materials that could withstand the heat generated by a turbine. Last, turbines are efficient at a constant speed but get terrible fuel economy otherwise. That is why a turbine makes more sense for aircraft. There is an excellent book written by Steve Lehto that goes into great detail about the Chrysler Turbine. I would highly recommend it. Cheers!!!
36:00. I completely disagree with the GT500 comment and there is mis-information in this segment also. 2010-2012 GT500 is the 5.4L with 550 hp. 2013-14 is trinity 5.8L which is also an aluminum block and not iron as mentioned. It’s a bored 5.4 block.
This car put up a huge middle finger to Chevrolet beating the Camaro ZL1 by over 100hp and beating the “exotic killer” c6 ZR1’s 638hp. I also believe it was a stepping stone for the hellcat to go over 700hp in 2015. Without this car I think it would have had less power. It’s the last project Carroll personally oversaw before he died. This car was an Instant classic when brand new.
I drove one of these in 2013 and it was an absolute animal. It would hold second gear no problem with factory tires. Admittedly I have never driven a 10-12 GT500 or either in a dynamic handling matter to speak toward the gearing differences. I assume they made them taller also to hold the power in low gears without just spinning. I’m a corvette guy and definitely love the Z51 over the standard car due to the shorter gearing being way better to drive around. I’ll give you that. The complaints about the brakes are an eye roll. It’s a muscle car not a track car like the GT350. I can’t imagine handling being much different than 10-12 being aluminum block engine also if your right foot isn’t made of lead.
13/14’ GT500 is an all time great. Period.
The XJ220 was an impressive car, well the top speed. Jaguar or maybe Ford switching to the V-6 Turbo over the V-12 in 1993-94 to save some weight obviously wasn't the right decision!
Surprised to not see the DeLorean on one of your lists.
Note on the Chrysler question: In 2009 Chrysler was bought by Fiat. In Europe, the 300c was rebadged and sold as a Lancia Thema during 2011-2014, then discontinued. Same thing with the pacifica/voyager. Sold as a Lancia Voyager for a few years
The decaf split coffee trick is so good. I keep bags of beans frozen separately so I can just have a decaf if I want the taste/ritual, or split 50:50 if I'm going to work out that day.
Didn't Freddy from Top Gear crash one of the Jags as well?
Where’s Delorean?
Even though I am still a combustion engine lover, I think it is unfair (and borderline with malicious intent) to call the Cyber Truck a "Car Miss" this early. A Tesla miss for delivering a car that's nowhere near the car they promised, several years late and at nowhere near the price? Yes. The car ITSELF (as Camissa even tried to explain to you, during your apology video) is too little time on the market to be considered a "car miss", a failure, or anything else. And even though, I am still not convinced of the effectiveness of a full electrified commuting (at least the infra is at a good level outside of Stockholm), I feel that you find every opportunity to shit on the Cyber Truck for failures or events that all car companies in the world had. Matt, you start sounding like those old people (in American movies, as I've never seen one in person) yelling to young people…
This podcast would be soo much more enjoyable if the hosts showed the computer images they are looking at to the audience
The Phaeton is my favourite car from that time in that class. The materials are better than the s-class and the mashine delivers power better than a 7series.
Also, everyone thinks you drive a passat(that is often better), while you feel like driving a bentley. And that mechanical click when you put in the key…
I haven’t seen a slide this horrible since Biden took office. What happened to this page? Y’all copying throttle house now even. Be original
these are really good calls. can you work in something like best car investments of recent years. or best hypercars. best 300kph cars. best 1m cars. keep them coming.
Great show. You nailed it on most of these. Agree in the SF90. Not the only modern Ferrari that depreciates (far from it), but definitely the worst one (and unloved by many former owners). Just buy a Pista instead…
I couldn't care less about 99.9% of the vehicles Matt and Zach talk about… I come to listen to Matt call out all of Elongated Muskrats various scams.
I'd add the pagani Haurya.
It seems that the Ford Edsel missed the mark set by Ford's marketing department. Established as a brand to revolutionize driving, it delivered a toilet seat grill and nothing else.
Matt should drink way more caffeine skip breakfast and do fasted cardio.
Didn’t the VW Phaeton precede the Bentley?
Blizzaks get SO LOUD when they wear down. I would recommend Vredenstein Wintracs personally. They are rated to a higher speed (can tolerate more heat) and are quieter than blizzaks.
C4 ZR1 Corvette would have been a good one too… I think?
For the "$15k highway commuter" question, I feel like this is my bread and butter as I'm always looking for cars around that price point. Not because I can't afford something more expensive (sick brag), but because I just don't want to spend a ton on a car I wouldn't drive more than 3-4k miles per year. LS400 (facelifted with the 5-speed auto) or an LS430 would be a great choice for someone who drives as much as me. If you are putting serious miles on a car, I agree that an ES350 or a VW Golf with some features would do the job very well.
42:20, I like the porthole things these things had. Otherwise not a fan.
Nice GS bamboo Matt has I just got that one as well
Citroën SM!
Love these themed episodes
Missed a few big ones here:
-Porsche 996 (questionable styling and major engine problems)
– Ford 6.0 diesel
– Comeback of the Jeep Renegade
– The new Chevy Blazer (this could have been so good but huge flop)
– Ferrari Mondial vs the SF90
thats weird. matts rhr is 48, but he takes pills for high blood pressure? shouldnt his anxiety atleast keep his hr in the normal if not above normal range? 48 is athlete level. and after the calming down his systolic is still above 130? thats high, even with pills. im sure im missing something here. also im not a med professional, so ignore all the above.
Jag XJ220 was also supposed to be 4WD and was not. Most beautiful car ever.
18 stone and your cardio is far better than mine 🙈 started my attempt at fitness (always relied on metabolism) at 91kg (200lb) took a year and three months to get down to 75kg (165lbs) and now because I still enjoy a weekend beverage and going for meals at the weekend I’m probably fluctuate between 75/80kg in any given couple of months. I’m 6”1 and my heart rate doing cardio at 15 mins on elliptical had an average of 141 and high of 166. A 5k run (did couch to 5k app as I hate running) has my average heart rate at 165 with a high of 180 that’s with a walk in there of a minute or two. Keep it up Matt! It’s hard staying on top of it isn’t it. Took me months to get past the I hate being here stage of going the gym. Now I feel bad if I miss a couple of days but it’s so easy to fall back into “I’ll do something tomorrow”
VW Phaeton was limited to 155mph ( at least in Europe ) and W12 version without the limiter was allegedly capable of 186mph.
Just need YT to stop blocking the show. I watch every episode and still need to search smoking tire podcast to watch it. Do better YT