Podcast

#234, Marc O’Dell answers your car questions 24/7

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:57 — 43.9MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoreMarc O’Dell is the expert you want to talk with when there’s an issue with your car. For the past two-plus years he’s worked as an auto expert for JustAnswer.com. The platform connects people with live doctors, lawyers, veterinarians, mechanics and other verified and vetted experts for real-time assistance, insight and answers to just about any question or problem. The service, available with different payment tiers, is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. O’Dell, who has more than 25 years of automotive repair industry experience, is our guest this week on The Weekly Driver podcast. Car Repair Needs? Answers Online Co-hosts

Read more

#233, WeatherTech Raceway set for Monterey Auto Week

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:40 — 42.1MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoreWeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca has a diverse annual motorsports calendar. It began this year in April with the Trans Am Superfest and continues through mid-October with the Velocity Invitational. Next month is the busiest time of the year with the iconic facility heavy into the mix of Monterey Auto Week. Barry Toepke, Director of Heritage Events & Public Relations at WeatherTech Raceway, is our guest this week on The Weekly Driver Podcast. A guest three times previously, Toepke shares with co-host Bruce Aldrich in Episode #233 the upcoming schedule, notably the Monterey Pre-Reunion (Aug. 13-14) and Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (Aug. 17-20). The annual

Read more

#232, Cruise driverless ride share debuts in San Francisco

After several years of negotiation and testing, Cruise was at the front of the autonomous line last week. It became the first driverless taxi service in San Francisco to charge for its services. The limited service area program features solo occupants getting rides in Chevrolet Bolts. The system is currently geofenced to the Northwest corner of the city of San Francisco, mostly residential areas in a grid of low-speed streets. Co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia talk with Jackie Shannon, Director of Product Management at Cruise, in this episode of The Weekly Driver Podcast. The episode was taped the day after Cruise’s debut. We were curious to hear about the company’s feedback from passengers the day after its first night

Read more

#231, Bruce’s RV update, new retro trailers, Cruise taxis

Not too many days pass without the automobile, truck or RV industry abuzz. But it’s not always about Elon Musk, Tesla and the latest delay of his electric pickup truck. Sometimes, Bruce and I just have to get caught up in other auto news, and that’s what we do on this episode of The Weekly Driver Podcast. We cover several topics. Bruce and his wife Alene recently returned their fifth trip in their new fifth-wheel RV, a 29-foot Keystone Cougar, towed by their 2022 Ford F-250 pickup truck. Bruce updates listeners with his tales from the road — hot weather to windy driving conditions. “We’ve got it down; my wife and I,” Bruce says. “We know what to do. But

Read more
,

#230, Bruce Meyer, ’32 Fords and the Petersen Auto Museum

Bruce Meyer loves 1932 Fords. He owns 10. It may seem excessive unless you’re a founding member of the Petersen Auto Museum in Los Angeles and it just unveiled an exhibition honoring the 90th anniversary of the vehicles and their iconic legacy as hot rods. Meyer, 90, founding chairman of the museum, is our guest this week on The Weekly Driver Podcast. Co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia discuss with Meyer the country’s most well-known museum and its celebration of the cars often known by their moniker, “Deuce.” The exhibit began earlier in June with a celebration and honor given to Billy Gibbons, the lead guitarist and primary vocalist of the rock band ZZ Top. Gibbons is also a Deuce

Read more

#229, Tracy Broshar embraces three-wheel motorcycles

Tracy Broshar began riding motorcycles at age 19 but she hadn’t ridden for years out of respect for her partner’s wishes. When her partner died three years ago and the effects of Covid-19 hit, Broshar “felt lost.” “I kept thinking, ‘what can I do to get myself out of this,’ ” the resident of Sacramento recently explained. “I know I couldn’t ride two-wheelers anymore because I needed a knee replacement. I started looking online and I found the three-wheelers and history was written.” Broshar, 63, now a passionate rider and advocate of three-wheel motorcycles, is our guest on this episode of The Weekly Driver Podcast. Co-host Bruce Aldrich and I talk with the rider (she’s a close neighbor in East

Read more

#228, Newport Auto Museum artist David Lloyd Glover

David Lloyd Glover, a former newspaper illustrator who has worked as a full-time artist since 1969, created the auto museum artwork in the showrooms of vehicles and architecture in the Newport Car Museum. A week after Gunther Buerman, visionary and founder of the museum was our guest on The Weekly Driver Podcast, Lloyd Glover joined the podcast to discuss his collaborations with the auto museum. A long-time vintage car collector, Lloyd Glover works often with translucent watercolors using the classic British technique. His work has been featured in numerous galleries in the United States and internationally. He works in a studio in Pacific Palisades in Southern California overlooking Malibu Beach. With the museum’s specialty of mixing automobiles with architecture and

Read more

#227, Journalist Mark Glover set for 58th Indy 500

Mark Glover, the long-time Sacramento-based journalist, will continue his passion for motorsports this week. He will attend the Indy 500 for the 58th time. It will be a family affair. Glover’s son will accompany his father for the 30th time. Glover is our guest on this episode of The Weekly Driver podcast. Co-host Bruce Aldrich and I talk with the Indy 500 historian about his legacy at the race, the event he first attended with his father when he was a young boy. Glover was also our guest on Episode #39 in 2018. We also talk with Glover in Episode #227 about iconic drivers. From four-time winner A.J. Foyt to Hélio Castroneves and his chances of breaking the career-win record

Read more
,

#226, Newport Car Museum visionary Gunther Buerman

Approaching its fifth anniversary, the Newport Car Museum is the largest automotive museum in New England. It celebrates seven decades of modern industrial car design represented in more than 85 vehicles. It’s all the vision of owners Gunther and Maggie Buerman. The couple, who live in Highland Beach, Florida, and Newport, R.I., opened the museum in 2017. It’s located about 20 miles north of Newport in Portsmouth. Gunther Buerman, originally from Mannheim, Germany, moved as a young boy with his family to New York. His interest in automobiles began when he practiced wax paper transfer etchings of car advertisements from National Geographic Magazine. He was willed a 1966 Ford Mustang convertible in the mid-1980s from an uncle and his passion

Read more

#225, Chris Bright talks Collector Part Exchange success

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:31 — 46.0MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoreChris Bright remains as enthusiastic and energized as the vintage car enthusiast and businessman was last July when his new company Collector Part Exchange debuted. Bruce Aldrich and I interviewed Bright last summer, just before Monterey Auto Week, for Episode #190 of The Weekly Driver Podcast. Collector Part Exchange: Nearing One-Year Anniversary A few weeks later, we met him and his business partner and co-founder Aaron Laliberte at the annual show to talk all things vintage cars and online businesses. Bruce is on vacation this week traveling on another sojourn with his wife Alene in their new Recreational Vehicles So I interviewed Bright from

Read more

#224, Cars.com editor reports on EVs, NY Auto Show

Joe Wiesenfelder, the executive editor of cars.com, recently returned from the New York Auto Show. Electric vehicles continue to be emphasized in the automotive market space, and Wiesenfelder is our guest on this episode of The Weekly Driver Podcast to discuss it. Co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia talk with the veteran journalist about the influx of new manufacturers in the EV segment as wells as the health of the segment. Can any new EV carmaker, Rivian to Lucid to Polestar to VinFast, challenge Tesla? Can any mainstream manufacturer launch a sustainable EV? Cars.com: Will auto shows remain? Some high-end manufacturers have discontinued the tradition of debuting new models at auto shows, particularly the major events in Chicago, Los Angeles,

Read more

#223, Hypercar Invitational Founder Alessandro Borroni

Like many automotive enthusiasts, Alessandro Borroni has a passion for automobiles that extends past his appreciation for fast cars and iconic carmakers. He’s giving back to the community while the inviting like-minded to mingle among peers, drive iconic machines and raise money. The result is the Hypercar Invitational. The fourth-year event will be held June 9-12 headquartered at WeatherTech Laguna Seca Raceway. Borroni, the founder of the event, is our guest on this episode of The Weekly Driver Podcast. Co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia discuss with Borroni, the genesis of the event, how it’s expanded and what’s planned for this summer’s event. But just what is the Hyper Invitational? The exclusive offers an opportunity to not only preview a

Read more

#222, Author Russell Hayes’ new book: everything VW Golf

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:12 — 38.7MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoreThe VW Golf is the third best-selling car in history, behind the top-selling Toyota Corolla and Ford F-Series of pickup trucks. More than 35 million of the versatile vehicles have sold since the car’s debut as a 1974 edition. With the motoring icon approaching its 50th anniversary, author Russell Hayes has expanded and upgraded his book The Volkswagen Golf Story to include the full Golf 7 range and the latest incarnation, the Golf 8. The new edition is available from Behemoth Publishing  Co-host Bruce Aldrich is on assignment, so I interview Hayes this week on The Weekly Driver Podcast. “Europe has always been the

Read more
,

#221, Modern car icon Carl Benz will get inventing honor

German engineer Carl Benz was the first to design a car around the internal combustion engine rather than adding an engine to an existing wagon or carriage, a critical insight in auto evolution. Benz, who died in 1929, is often called the inventor of the modern automobile. With six additional luminaries, all patent holders whose inventions range from cataract surgery to the Super Soaker will be honored as part of the latest class of National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) inductees. Rini Paiva, the NIHF executive vice president for selection and recognition, is our guest this week on The Weekly Driver Podcast. Co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia discuss with Paiva the selection of Benz to this year’s inductees. We

Read more

#220, IIHS, HLDI, Progressive work together for auto safety

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:29 — 44.6MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoreMatt Moore, Senior Vice President of Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), oversees the organization’s research program, the collection of vehicle information and the production of loss data. A complementary company to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, HLDI processes insurance data from companies that represent approximately 85 percent of the U.S. private passenger auto insurance market. Moore is our guest this week on The Weekly Driver Podcast. Co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia interview the automobile safety expert with an emphasis on his involvement in a new study released in conjunction with Progressive Insurance titled Does Tech Make Driving Safer? The HLDI reported in

Read more

#219, RV living on the road: One family’s travels

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:00 — 46.7MB)Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | MoreSpencer, Kristi and Kade Stevens, otherwise known as the Adventurtunity Family, live full-time in their RV. The family is traveling throughout the United States, embracing a lifestyle they’ve determined is best — at least for now. Spencer is our guest this week on The Weekly Driver Podcast. Co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia talk with the husband and father about the trio’s RV adventures. He discusses the beauty of seeing the country to the challenges of the road. The Stevens’ lifestyle is also the family’s business, both achieved from the confines of a Class A, 2017 Holiday Rambler Vacationer 36H. With their website and

Read more
Previous Next