07.17.25: Trucker Builds a NYC, Monster Truck Breaks a Wheel, Ads Boondoggle a Message, Parking Garages Blow Their Stack, Bureaucrats Bulldoze Your Parking, + Good Tunes from Bebop, Elder & Plante

Old stuff!  Told'ja there were leftovers from 2025 lying around in the Garagosphere...  This gem from July was special because we got about 10 years of hate off the collective gearhead chest about bad P.S.A. ads that make you wish any car guy had been a part of any of the production.  On the plus side, now we know what to look out for (patronizing betaboys and their bullygirl narrators).  There's better bits to be had, like a trucker from New York City (see, there's still good things there) who built a 1500 sq-ft balsa replica of the city (because why not, or perhaps because X-Acto Knife), plus the selfsame city's plans to spend $2,000,000,000 to REMOVE 300K parking spots (because what, what?) while its parking garages do their best impression of a Denny's pancake breakfast. There's also the tale of unscheduled monster truck disassembly mid-show (and the cars the parts landed upon). Back to the warnings: Raiders, Dredd, Snatch, Urban and Reeves, Animal House, Jenny in Japan, any PR ≠ good PR, '80s Fleppard, old Subaru Foresters, the soundtrack rule, foreign coverage of domestic stories, and the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack.

Old stuff!  Told'ja there were leftovers from 2025 lying around in the Garagosphere...  This gem from July was special because we got about 10 years of hate off the collective gearhead chest about bad P.S.A. ads that make you wish any car guy had been a part of any of the production.  On the plus side, now we know what to look out for (patronizing betaboys and their bullygirl narrators).  There's better bits to be had, like a trucker from New York City (see, there's still good things there) who built a 1500 sq-ft balsa replica of the city (because why not, or perhaps because X-Acto Knife), plus the selfsame city's plans to spend $2,000,000,000 to REMOVE 300K parking spots (because what, what?) while its parking garages do their best impression of a Denny's pancake breakfast. There's also the tale of unscheduled monster truck disassembly mid-show (and the cars the parts landed upon). Back to the warnings: Raiders, Dredd, Snatch, Urban and Reeves, Animal House, Jenny in Japan, any PR ≠ good PR, '80s Fleppard, old Subaru Foresters, the soundtrack rule, foreign coverage of domestic stories, and the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack.

When life gives you all sorts of junk and a few cups of coffee, you get a smoothie episode (ie: it's in there)...  It was kicked into gear when we watched a dude in Queens bury his neighbor's car during the last snowstorm because their dog won't shut up.  Seems reasonable.  ...Maybe they parked too close to his driveway as well.  Neighbors.  Be considerate and bury the car they use less.  There's a report on alien technology: an app that warns us about glass-holes and their Fakebook spy glasses, concerns that our constant car shopping has gone mental(ist), and a guy in Norway with so much T.D.S. that he Havana Syndromed himself.  Also: Kalifornistan's fuel island is so desperate they're importing gas from the Caribbean, but their highways are so good that the state has four of the five most dangerous superslabs in the country.  Nice work, CA. More in there: Rob Zombie's forgotten hit "Living Dead Tree (Laying on the Roof)", not pulling a Sagan, plus lots of Red Fang, including tales from Pacific Beach at the Doc's and why "Wires" is a gearhead must-see.

When life gives you all sorts of junk and a few cups of coffee, you get a smoothie episode (ie: it's in there)...  It was kicked into gear when we watched a dude in Queens bury his neighbor's car during the last snowstorm because their dog won't shut up.  Seems reasonable.  ...Maybe they parked too close to his driveway as well.  Neighbors.  Be considerate and bury the car they use less.  There's a report on alien technology: an app that warns us about glass-holes and their Fakebook spy glasses, concerns that our constant car shopping has gone mental(ist), and a guy in Norway with so much T.D.S. that he Havana Syndromed himself.  Also: Kalifornistan's fuel island is so desperate they're importing gas from the Caribbean, but their highways are so good that the state has four of the five most dangerous superslabs in the country.  Nice work, CA. More in there: Rob Zombie's forgotten hit "Living Dead Tree (Laying on the Roof)", not pulling a Sagan, plus lots of Red Fang, including tales from Pacific Beach at the Doc's and why "Wires" is a gearhead must-see.

Order, schmorder - this much gearhead goodness doesn't need "order" (especially when an episode at the junkyard had to hit beforehand)...  This episode is in good Garage Hour form: reporting from the industry (the stupid stoplight shutoff feature that nobody likes and does literally nothing beneficial is no longer necessary - kind'a like that belt buzzer from the '70s), musings on interesting/weird/underappreciated automotive trends (hypermiling, anyone?), warnings for idiots (about idiots?) about driving in the fog (because "smart" cars just make soyboys and bullygirls dumber), a couple recalls for bad manufacturing, and a few ideas about not being a psycho liar when you get pulled over by Johnny Law (and advice on how treat the fuzz and NOT to get a ticket when you do something adventurous in your vehicle). Then it's the usual awesomesoup: sheetrock sucks, string cheese and scamorza at Mollica's, the neighbor chick caught pickin' her nose again, why CO2 is just great, why Scapa Flow in particular and shipwrecks in general are just interesting, why you should never plant the mystery seeds, PPIHC 2026, phones not in your bedroom, and COC, Contagion, the Blues Bros., Tom Waits, Dire Straits, and Dog Fashion Disco. 

Order, schmorder - this much gearhead goodness doesn't need "order" (especially when an episode at the junkyard had to hit beforehand)...  This episode is in good Garage Hour form: reporting from the industry (the stupid stoplight shutoff feature that nobody likes and does literally nothing beneficial is no longer necessary - kind'a like that belt buzzer from the '70s), musings on interesting/weird/underappreciated automotive trends (hypermiling, anyone?), warnings for idiots (about idiots?) about driving in the fog (because "smart" cars just make soyboys and bullygirls dumber), a couple recalls for bad manufacturing, and a few ideas about not being a psycho liar when you get pulled over by Johnny Law (and advice on how treat the fuzz and NOT to get a ticket when you do something adventurous in your vehicle). Then it's the usual awesomesoup: sheetrock sucks, string cheese and scamorza at Mollica's, the neighbor chick caught pickin' her nose again, why CO2 is just great, why Scapa Flow in particular and shipwrecks in general are just interesting, why you should never plant the mystery seeds, PPIHC 2026, phones not in your bedroom, and COC, Contagion, the Blues Bros., Tom Waits, Dire Straits, and Dog Fashion Disco. 

Don't shy away from the junkyard when it's time to find a part.  Whether you're a hardcore salvage builder looking for a door skin or it's your first time and you just need a head rest, outfits like Best Foreign Used Parts are ideal - lots of stock, lots of knowledge, and lots of tetanus shots.  Hostus Maximus Justin Fort and Ryan The TBD may be a little biased (It's in there!), but there's a lot to learn from this episode: what parts move fastest, the cars that junkyard shoppers like the most (and where), what to do first when you're heading to the junkyard, and a little bit about this business as a whole.  There's also Dodge R/Ts (Dakota and Caravan), Toyotas, Panteras, Typhoons, Cyclones, Renaults, an MG and a Volvo 240, cars with guns, 'fridges, violins and money, and so many Subarus.  The master of this demonstration of disassembly at Best Parts (Don), also has excellent stories from four decades in the business - crazy finds in the 'yard, what goes on after the gates close, airbag "testing", walking catalytics, hail (No!), junkyard magic, the price of steel, and structural recycling. Soup for you: The Allman Brothers, faces for radio, Colorado Springs and Gold Hill history (schmistory!), R-rated junk car finds, and Johnny Cash's forgotten song about Deloreans. ...And don't trust your lyin' eyes - the Garage Hour is always PG, so the "Explicit" rating that occasionally appears on episodes is just some 'bot that was too drunk to do its job.

Don't shy away from the junkyard when it's time to find a part.  Whether you're a hardcore salvage builder looking for a door skin or it's your first time and you just need a head rest, outfits like Best Foreign Used Parts are ideal - lots of stock, lots of knowledge, and lots of tetanus shots.  Hostus Maximus Justin Fort and Ryan The TBD may be a little biased (It's in there!), but there's a lot to learn from this episode: what parts move fastest, the cars that junkyard shoppers like the most (and where), what to do first when you're heading to the junkyard, and a little bit about this business as a whole.  There's also Dodge R/Ts (Dakota and Caravan), Toyotas, Panteras, Typhoons, Cyclones, Renaults, an MG and a Volvo 240, cars with guns, 'fridges, violins and money, and so many Subarus.  The master of this demonstration of disassembly at Best Parts (Don), also has excellent stories from four decades in the business - crazy finds in the 'yard, what goes on after the gates close, airbag "testing", walking catalytics, hail (No!), junkyard magic, the price of steel, and structural recycling. Soup for you: The Allman Brothers, faces for radio, Colorado Springs and Gold Hill history (schmistory!), R-rated junk car finds, and Johnny Cash's forgotten song about Deloreans. ...And don't trust your lyin' eyes - the Garage Hour is always PG, so the "Explicit" rating that occasionally appears on episodes is just some 'bot that was too drunk to do its job.

Do You Need Some... serious information about the world we drive in from a professional gearhead?  Don't worry, it's a fun romp through the junk we all come up against as thinking people (ie: the geek set).  Hitchikers: do you?  When and where?  Are you protected?  ...What about the little girl who begged for a ride to a homeless shelter and then killed the guy who showed some kindness?  Cold-weather remote-start: what happens when the bureaucrats (Germans, in this case) think they have the right to tell the manufacturer (Toyota, in this case) to take away the feature you bought to "save the environment"?  ...Smells more like a flex than giving a fudge about the planet - a sign of statism, whether it's VW, Tesla, China or your thermostat and your 'fridge conspiring to steal your wallet. "Life, Liberty and Property" were not meant to be a throwaway - this is what we're about: ceramic insulators (neato vintage tech), burgers on toasted muffins (yummo), "Pattern Recognition" (Gibson), "Hitch" ("Road Games"), and '90s funk-metal from Mind Bomb (Yes, have some.).

Do You Need Some... serious information about the world we drive in from a professional gearhead?  Don't worry, it's a fun romp through the junk we all come up against as thinking people (ie: the geek set).  Hitchikers: do you?  When and where?  Are you protected?  ...What about the little girl who begged for a ride to a homeless shelter and then killed the guy who showed some kindness?  Cold-weather remote-start: what happens when the bureaucrats (Germans, in this case) think they have the right to tell the manufacturer (Toyota, in this case) to take away the feature you bought to "save the environment"?  ...Smells more like a flex than giving a fudge about the planet - a sign of statism, whether it's VW, Tesla, China or your thermostat and your 'fridge conspiring to steal your wallet. "Life, Liberty and Property" were not meant to be a throwaway - this is what we're about: ceramic insulators (neato vintage tech), burgers on toasted muffins (yummo), "Pattern Recognition" (Gibson), "Hitch" ("Road Games"), and '90s funk-metal from Mind Bomb (Yes, have some.).