Special Guest Sam Smith joins the Curmudgeons in this episode! Not the singer, but the best writer in the automotive business.

Sam also has his own podcast on the Hagerty Podcast Network called "Driven To Fail." This inspires Jason to bring up all the times Sam "failed" while at Automobile Magazine.

Jason and Sam both started their careers at Automobile Magazine at 2006, working with the brilliant, talented, and wonderful Jean Jennings. And Sam had a rocky start — immediately recognized as one of the best writers in the business, but crashed a lot of cars. There were Camry Dents, tire blowouts in a Mk5 GTI, a crunched Lotus Elise, and a Ford GT spun into a culvert. 

There exist no photos of those accidents, but Jason does have an old video of his Ann Arbor steep-driveway tire test: a Range Rover Sport on summer tires vs a GMC Acadia on all-seasons versus a Chevy Suburban on winters. The results are amazing.

You can find Sam's podcast here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjPn6_Dtiq4umtc-E0_SbIQ

The BABE Rally Story:

https://www.motortrend.com/features/2007-big-apple-to-big-easy/

===

The Carmudgeon Show is part of the Hagerty Podcast Network

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices