Zack Klappman and Matt Farah from The Smoking Tire podcast have been successful for lots of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that they’re just great people. Zack and Matt are two car geeks with serious range; they’ll talk all day about supercars and precise handling and luxury interior materials, but they’ll also chat with Griffin and me about oil-stained clothing and a hand-built WWII Jeep.
Big ups to The Smoking Tire for helping us launch The Autopian way back in the day, and, last week, for having a conversation about some very dumb things.
Among those dumb things: Dyeing clothes in motor oil, trying to build a car from scratch in your backyard without your wife getting mad at you, driving a WWII Jeep 900 miles at 40 mph, and — the jury is still out on this — selling a two-door truck with crank windows for $25 grand.
If you’ve read my tome on my eBay WWII Jeep project and thought: “11,000 words wasn’t enough; I really want more behind-the-scenes info on how this all went down,” then I have good news! The Smoking Tire delivers. It also delivers on more conversations about the $25,000 EV Slate Truck — a vehicle seemingly everyone is talking about. We also start the conversation with a blast from the past, referencing one of my first articles as a car journalist way back in 2015. It’s the story about dyeing clothes in used motor oil (don’t do it).
Instead, consider purchasing our upcoming shirt, dubbed “Stain-O-Flaug.” Behold, never-before-seen images of this propriety design:
Coming to an Autopian store near you!
Topshot: The Smoking Tire (Screenshot)
Wasn’t hiding paint and oil stains the primary rationale the Navy gave for adopting camouflage uniforms? You know, as opposed to helping sailors blend in with the natural topography of large ships
I’m looking forward to the shirt!! I could probably get away with wearing that to work.
Excellent podcast with the legendary Smoking Tire crew – my big takeaway was how funny Griffin is. Great to hear them all chew the fat.
Griffin was like an “on-air” presence right out of the gate. Great show guys!
I’ll never not associate DT with the oil-dyed clothes article on the old site, way to leave a lasting impression right out of the gate!
I’ll attribute both of those to my old improv days! Thanks for the love y’all
I was wondering. You had an ease with being on mic/camera that usually needs to be learned or that just comes naturally with experience. Keep up the great work both in front of and behind the camera!
Not gonna lie I’m looking forward to an Autopian shirt I can wrench in without guilt. I’d be heartbroken to stain any of my current, brightly colored shirts. I don’t even eat things with red sauce or curry while wearing them. Stain-o-flauge promises protection against oils from olive to gear, and maybe even the rare, delicious olive gear oil.
Is that the Galpin back lot? Those dumpsters look familiar…
I also see a red WJ lurking forlornly in the background…
You were talking a water cannon mod to the WWII Jeep – but no joke, why not a T-shirt cannon mount to fire some stain-o-flage or other shirts out during Autopian events?
I unironically can’t wait to wear a shirt that looks like carpet in a laser tag arena.
I suggest offering the larger sizes as well as that shirt looks awesome. And have you ever considered getting Mike Rowe in for an interview?
Oh man, I’m absolutely wearing that shirt to work
I love the Autopian because what other publication trying to sell merch would pose in front of a dumpster.
Can’t wait to listen to this episode of TST, but I think I’ll save it for my road trip in a couple of weeks.
Dumpster? That, my friend, is a Waste Disposal Storage Unit. Dumpsters are generally on fire.
At almost 2 hours probably a good idea
“Boys, have we got a shirt for you! Whether from cars, trains or even planes, it hides oil stains, pit stains, spit-up spots, jelly doughnut droppings, and ice cream toppings…”
/Slaps boxes of Stain-O-Flaug t-shirts/
These bad boys can fit gallons of “fluid stains” on them
*Do not wear under blacklights.
What about spaghetti while driving?