Hooniverse

Jeff and Chris are joined in the podcast studio by Mark Baruth. Yes, there is more than one of them out there, and Mark is the one with less facial hair and more musical talent it would seem. Mark is an editor at the Truth About Cars, and he's also written some content for Jalopnik. He's also the proud owner of a Ford Flex, Ford Mustang Boss 302, and a Ford Fiesta ST, and he's capable of wheeling all three quite well.Our chatter this starts with talk of the new Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk... and then it rambles all over the place from there.

Jeff Glucker, Chris Hayes, and Blake Rong are replaced for this episode with passable facsimilies in the form of Bradley Brownell, Jason Connor, and Cameron VanDerHorst of the Cammed & Tubbed podcast (also on Hooniverse.com every Friday morning at 7:30). We were joined by our interesting guest, Stef Schrader (@StefThePef on twitter) of BlackFlag and Jalopnik fame. Discussion ranges from Jeff's Audi S7 and Jason's Audi A3 Cabriolet excursion out to El Mirage. Magnus Walker crashing his now-iconic #277. And we mourn the passing of Justin Wilson, a truly unique and genuinely enthusiastic motor racing driver. 

In memoriam of Justin Wilson's passing we're re-running our April 2014 podcast with him.

While Jeff is out racing Miatas Mr. Jonathon Klein (@jonathon_klein) of Boldride joins me in studio to talk Pebble Beach. While still ailing from a broken shoulder Jonathon still managed to convince Bugatting to give him some seat time in a Veyron Gran Sporte Vitesse, in addition Jonathon gives us his take on the 2015 VW Touareg TDI. There was a lot unveiled at Pebble and we talk about the ubiquity of McLarens, Aston Martin's new DBX, the new M4 GTS concept (with water/meth injection), the M2, the much delayed Acura NSX and a comparison of the heavyweights in the hypercar realm, the Veyron, Koenigsegg 1:1 and the Hennessey Venom GT.

Pro Racer Duncan Ende joins us in the studio, exactly 100 episodes after he first hopped on the mic with us in episode 16. Ende is currently racing through the Pirelli World Challenge Season behind the wheel of a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3. There are three racing weekends left, so we're lucky to have Duncan stop by.Alongside Duncan, friend of Hooniverse and BoldRide.com Editor Jonathon Klein swings by the studio. Klein was recently in a bit of a scrape of the two-wheel variety, and we chat about that for a bit.

Gale Banks is a man who knows what it takes for an engine to create power. He's been in the business of creating reliable and powerful engines for decades now, and the man has incredible stories to share. Gale was a guest awhile back on Episode 21 and now he's come back to share more of his wonderful insight and knowledge.Banks is one of our favorite guests, and we could easily turn this into a three-hour podcast episode. Alas, it can't last forever and Gale had to run off to have dinner that evening with his good friend Syd Mead.Yup, he's more fascinating than you even knew...

Host Jeff Glucker is back in the studio after an unexpected absence last week. He's joined by Producer Chris Hayes as the two kick it a bit old school and run down some new car news before diving into what they've been driving and what's going on with their own cars. What's the new car news? Well, a couple in Texas bought their 78th and 79th Dodge Vipers, and we think that's kind of dumb. A Tesla Model S owner lapped the 'Ring in 9:08 and we think that's kind of awesome.In the motorsports world, there was a big win at the 24hrs of Spa for the MarcVDS racing team. We want to congratulate our friend Francois on the victory.In our own personal news, Jeff tells the story of his weekend with the Lamborghini Huracan... and how one day turned from a standard video shoot into something so much more important.

This week Jason Connor (@TerminatorConn) and I are joined by Ken Anderson president of Mountune's (@mountune) US operations. For those unfamiliar Mountune is quickly becoming Ford's premier tuning partner and is providing aftermarket tuning support for the Focus and Fiesta platforms. We of course discuss their product offerings but we also touch upon the different demands of customers around the world, Mountune's history and we spend a substantial amount of time discussing Mountune's upcoming Mustang offerings.

On this episode of the podcast, you're getting a shorter On the Road bit. Host Jeff Glucker is in Minnesota to drive new Hyundai product, and he decided to fire up the microphone while he was sitting in his hotel room.The chatter this time around ranges from what Jeff has been driving to thoughts of getting old...

This is the one where we say goodbye to co-host Blake Z. Rong. He's packing up his LA life and relocating to Austin, Texas. We're joined by guest Michael Banovksy, who is Managing Editor of Petrolicious. Additional, he's the auther of the book Weird Cars. Our chatter revolves around his own car history, how he got "into cars", and we dabble a bit in the world of Petrloicious.After that, Jeff talks a bit about his Isle of Man TT experience before we all dive back to talk about some of our favorite episodes over the last 110 episode run.Fair thee well Blake Z. Rong... we will keep your chair warm.(with farts)

Alex Roy joins us in the podcast studio, which is filled with the whole gang this week. Our chatter ranges from the future of cars in general, some insight into the world of Morgans, and a bit of talk about cross-country records. This involves the real ones, and maybe ones that aren't quite as real. Alex is one of our favorite guests, so sit back and enjoy this one folks - it's a longer one, and it's a good one.

This week we're joined by friend of the podcast Abe Drimmer (former of Road & Track).  We discuss the Forza 6 press launch event where Microsoft showed off its latest game and Ford brought a nearly produciton ready Focus RS and GT350 along with the halo car of the moment the Ford GT.  In addition we cover the current shakeup at the Nurburging and the possible cessation of manufacturer testing along with some nostalgia of video games past. 

It's a short episode this week, but it's an on-the-road episode.This was recorded while Jeff was at the Nürburgring a few weeks back. He sat down in his hotel and spoke into the recorder for 20 minutes. No, this time it's not going to be like the Scotland podcast. While he swears he'll try to recreate that "magic" someday, today is not that day. Instead, here's a bit of insight into what went down on the first half of this trip.

This week Blake and I are joined by Jonathon Klein (@Jonathon_Klein) from Bold Ride.  Jonathon and I recently attended the HRE Wheels open house with Jeff along with Jason Connor, Rick Radcliffe and Matt farah and spent the day making fun of tacky people and observing all manner of exotic and some rather less than exotic cars.  The big news this week is that Blake now owns a reliable (hopefully) car in the form of a first gen Volkswagen CC.  We also cover car fires, Jaguars, nipple rings and McMercs.

Our guest this week is Kevin McCauley, who is a photographer with an eye for making cars look really good. The podcast format runs old school this week as we start with a bit of new car chatter. Up for discussion is:New ND Mazda MX-5 Miata first drives are coming in.Jaguar is already announcing a larger crossover/SUV before its F-Pace has gone on sale.Jeep is rumored to be prepping a Trackhawk Grand Cherokee fitted with a Hellcat powertrain.The GT350R Mustang makes crazy good noise.From there we learn a bit more about Kevin's world before finding out how everyone's vehicles are doing.

This week Herr Glücker returns from the fatherland and regales us with tales of Aston Martins, Nordeschleifes and Toyoda's. In addition we're accompanied by Rick Radcliffe and Jason Connor strong auxillary members of the Hooniverse podcast. We talk cars, we meander, quote the Simpsons and likely make people a littel uncomfortable but we're OK with that.

Our friend Matt D'Andria (@Motorator) cohost of Carcast alongside Adam Carolla swings by to tell us about their new movie "Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman".  We of course cover a lot of ground on the Newman front however we also get into Matt's very ambitious 93 Cobra project, how Matt got into the podcast world and a little inside baseball on the subject of press fleets.  

This week Blake and I are left to our own devices as Jeff makes his way back to "the old country" to spend some quality time with Aston Martin. Meanwhile Blake and I wax poetic on mechanical engineering, the realities of apartment living and remote California locales. Additionally Blake reviews the Mercedes SL550 and we try to figure out what he should replace his now defunct Miata with.

We're 102 episodes old now, which means we're tired. Hence the short episode...Blake tells us about life at the Petersen, I tell you about life with my truck, and Chris has no voice.

Zack Klapman from the Smoking Tire and AJ Gordon from The Petersen Museum join host Jeff Glucker and producer Chris Hayes in the podcast studio. In this episode we learn what it's like to drive an old truck in a city filled with new cars. Also, Zack tells us about some of the stuff DRIVE has been up to, including the recent Middle East TV special, and AJ talks a bit more about what's going on at the Petersen.Oh and the first few minutes we talk about beer instead of cars... ENJOY!